First take

One of the concerns voiced by many conservatives about benefits offered to low-income people is this: “But they’ll just spend it on booze and drugs and wasteful junk.” So how about this one, from a bill recently introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders: The Low Income Solar Act of 2015. The idea is to offer loans and grants to set up residential solar panels for low-income residences. Solar costs so little now that such efforts need not be expensive. And to the extent that a paid-for solar panel replaces power from a utility company, that’s a direct benefit to low-income people, one that can be spent on nothing else other than the power bill. What say you? – rs (photo/Tom Chance from Peckham)